The ground floor of my house has what I believe to be an asphalt / bitumen damp proof layer and appears to be about 12mm thick. In the kitchen on top of the asphalt are vinyl floor tiles, stuck directly on.
The asphalt in the kitchen has begun to break up and crack, and has cracked the vinyl tiles with it. This is only happening in the kitchen, and it seems to be mostly where there’s the most footfall. The house was built in 1988 and had one lady owner until I bought it a couple of years ago. I’ve noticed this happening gradually since I moved in (I didn’t see it when buying as there was lino down) I would guess that the tiles are the original flooring, however I don’t know for sure. All I know is that I didn’t lay them and that they’re old.

Has anyone any ideas why this might be happening?

What would be the best thing to do, remove and replace with what is there now or is there a better method available now? I need to sort it as it’s a mess and I want the floor tiling.

I know little about flooring other than that the asphalt acts as a damp proof membrane... and that there’s concrete below it. I wouldn’t be doing any of the repair work btw...